Back before winter break, I wrote a preview of every single bowl game. I think I did pretty well, even though I had Alabama winning the national championship. I wanted to post this today to talk about a more local issue, and one that seems to be on the minds of every football fan in and around Iowa City. The question is, who will be Iowa’s coach next year? Ferentz is under contract until 2020. However, lots of skepticism is surrounding the program. Most of the points I am going to bring up are brought up in a great article on Hawkeyenation.com.

 So let me just kind of go through and say what I think will happen. Iowa didn’t beat a FBS team with a winning record, won only seven games despite having a favorable schedule, and had most of their returning starters from a team that won eight games last year. Iowa’s offense was predictable and honestly bad all season. It seemed that they had had potential, but just seemed to do the same thing over and over. When it didn’t work the first time, they kept doing it. Over the last few years, offensive coordinator Greg Davis has taken a lot of heat. Iowa’s offense was only 71st in the country in scoring. They also experimented with two quarterbacks in the bowl game? The question is, why? If Beathard was going to start, he should’ve been starting since August. Who should’ve been on the field? Did the Hawkeyes not use the best players? Damond Powell had potential, Beathard may have been able to be the starter. Were they using the right players in the right situation?

The offense has taken a lot of heat, but actually, as mentioned in the Hawkeye Nation article, the defense has gone down hill without being noticed. Iowa was 1-4 in their last four games, but gave up 35+ in three of those games.  Who do you blame? Captain Kirk, or defensive coordinator Phil Parker? They were inconsistent, and seemed to go downhill after six or seven games, partially because they played better offenses.

Really, we are left with more questions than answers. Everything about the program seems old, stale, ineffective. The Hawkeyes have a similar schedule next year, they again only play Maryland, and Indiana, two teams in the bottom of the Eastern division, like this year. They get Pittsburgh at home. However, they play Iowa State, Wisconsin, and Nebraska on the road. The future doesn’t look bright. Iowa lost talent on defense, especially on the line, doesn’t have Weisman or Scherff on the O-line. Quarterback is still completely up in the air, as there have been talks that Beathard may leave the program, and Beathard was ineffective. What will happen? We’ll just have to wait and see, but so far, no personnel changes have been made public.